SAWCI Presents: Ânskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival
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HOME 2014 Presenters About Ânskohk About SAWCI Membership Contact us Picture gallery Events Anskohk 2016 Anskohk 2014 Anskohk 2013 Anskohk 2012 Anskohk 2011 SAWCI presents: Ânskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival CALL FOR PROPOSALS Saskatchewan Aboriginal Writers Circle Inc (SAWCI) is presently accepting proposals and applications from organizations/vendors interested in providing services for the coordination and delivery of an Indigenous Literature Festival, as well as proactive services to engage youth and the Indigenous writing community in Saskatchewan. The location of the services is Saskatoon SK with activities province-wide. The closing date for receiving applications and proposals is noon April 14, 2017. Full application package available here. Thank you for joining us for the 2016 Ânskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival We were so pleased to see our Anskohk Literature Festival events so well attended. We hope participants went away with nuggets of insight! Our success is shared with our partner, the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild and our sponsors belief in supporting Indigenous literature in Saskatchewan. We extend our heartfelt gratitude for your generosity. Thank you! Maarsii kinanaskomtinan. To Contact SAWCI, Email: [email protected] CONTACT US We would like to thank the following partners, sponsors, and supporters: Make a Free Website with Yola. HOME 2014 Presenters About Ânskohk About SAWCI Membership Contact us Picture gallery Events Anskohk 2016 Anskohk 2014 Anskohk 2013 Anskohk 2012 Anskohk 2011 Ânskohk Aboriginal Writer's Festival Simon Ash-Moccasin Simon Ash-Moccasin resides in Regina with his daughters Maija and Sage. He is from the Little Jackfish Lake Reserve (Saulteaux First Nations) on Treaty 6 Territory in Saskatchewan. Simon has been writing for a number of years ever since grade 3. In Grade 7, some sort of artist lifestyle way, came in to him and he burnt his early writing. His first amateur writing experience was the play, The Bingo King, which went on to become a staged reading in Regina. Since then, Simon can't put down the pen or stop typing. He has written articles for Briarpatch Magazine. (current board member) He has penned many slam poetry words and performed them at various locations around Kanata. He has worked on other plays such as Tyrone and Mary (formerly Bush Party), The Earth is on Fire, and a play about a bus trip to Ottawa to protest Harper. He has conducted many writing workshops. He was invited to Festival of Words to present. Currently Simon is working on a book of his life, which includes the infamous Sixties Scoop, stocked with numerous stories of growing up and living bi-culturally. Simon is honored, humbled and thankful to be able to present some of his older work and newer work within the many written genres. He thanks the Anskohk committee and board for giving a brother a chance. Hiy hiy. He is also looking forward to the round dance tonight. Hoka hey! Lisa Bird-Wilson Lisa Bird-Wilson is a Saskatchewan Métis writer whose work has appeared in a number of literary magazines and anthologies. Bird- Wilson’s book, Just Pretending (Coteau Books), was a finalist for the national Danuta Gleed Literary Award and won several Saskatchewan Book Awards, including Book of the Year, Aboriginal Peoples’ Writing Award, Fiction Award, and the Aboriginal People’s Publishing Award. Rita Bouvier Rita is an educator and writer. She has published two books of poetry, Blueberry Clouds (1999, nominated for the First Peoples’ Publishing Award) and papīyāhtak (2004, nominated for the Saskatchewan Book Award) published by Thistledown Press. Gabriel Dumont Institute published a collaborative work with Sherry Farrell-Racette and Margaret Gardiner titled Better That Way in 2008 (nominated for the Saskatoon Book Award), a children’s book featuring the title poem of papīyāhtak. Rita’s poetry has been translated into Spanish and German. Her work appears in literary anthologies, musical and television productions. A third publication of poetry is slated for publication Spring, 2015. Warren Cariou Warren Cariou was born in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan into a family of Métis and European heritage. He has published fiction, criticism and memoir about Aboriginal cultures in Canada and has co-directed two films about Aboriginal communities in the oil sands region. He directs the Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture at the University of Manitoba. Mika Lafond Mika Lafond is from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. She has a Bachelor of Education and Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Saskatchewan - her MFA thesis is a bilingual poetry manuscript in nêhiyawêwin and English. Garry Thomas Morse Garry Thomas Morse is the author of four poetry titles and four fiction titles, notably Governor-General’s Award poetry finalist Discovery Passages about his ancestral Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations myth, history, and the fallout of Canada's potlatch ban, and also his outlandish speculative fiction series The Chaos! Quincunx. Deanna Reder While Deanna Reder's Cree speaking Métis family comes from La Ronge, Île-à-la-Crosse and Lac Doré, she lives and works in Vancouver, BC. She is an Associate Professor in the Departments of First Nations Studies and English at Simon Fraser University teaching courses on Indigenous popular fiction and Indigenous perspectives on Gender and Sexuality. Gregory Scofield Gregory Scofield is one of Canada’s leading Aboriginal writers whose seven collections of poetry have earned him both a national and international audience. He is known for his unique and dynamic reading style that blends oral storytelling, song, spoken word and the Cree language. His work is taught at numerous universities and colleges throughout Canada and the U.S. Karon Shmon Many paths have converged to lead Karon Shmon to her current position as Director of Publishing at the Gabriel Dumont Institute, a Saskatchewan-based Métis organization with culture and education as its focus. Her roots to the one-room cabin at Chitek Lake where her mother was raised and the family’s annual visits to Batoche helped her to understand her heritage and to be proud of being Métis. As a classroom teacher and consultant, Karon worked to make education more equitable with a personal mantra to “affirm ourselves (Aboriginal peoples), and inform the others.” This makes her work at GDI for the last decade her true calling. She considers it a privilege to have the opportunity to work with Métis Elders, authors, artists, poets, performers, knowledge keepers, and community members and to preserve their voice, and legacy, through the publications and resources created at the Institute. Make a Free Website with Yola. HOME 2014 Presenters About Ânskohk About SAWCI Membership Contact us Picture gallery Events Anskohk 2016 Anskohk 2014 Anskohk 2013 Anskohk 2012 Anskohk 2011 SAWCI presents: Ânskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival History of the Festival The word Ânskohk was given to us by a respected member, storyteller, and language-keeper of our Cree community, Mr. Joseph Naytowhow. It is pronounced “ans-cook” and means “passing on the teaching tying one generation to the next or in other translations, passing the story on” in the context of the Festival. The first Ânskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival was held from September 29 to October 1, 2004 as part of Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company’s overall mandate to present cultural and artistic experiences that when combined promote cultural awareness and create understandings about the richness and diversity of Aboriginal culture . In particular, this festival was created to showcase the diversity of writing by Aboriginal authors, to educate the general population about the richness of Aboriginal literature and to promote further understanding of Aboriginal peoples. In addition, this festival was put together to highlight positive role models for Saskatoon’s Aboriginal community. The festival was, and is, designed to appeal to a broad audience. To ensure success of this first festival, a partnership was created with McNally Robinson Booksellers to utilize their established relationships with publishers and their expertise in hosting reading series. McNally Robinson Booksellers has hosted over 500 authors in the 7 years that they have been a presence in Saskatoon. McNally Robinson Booksellers became a presenting sponsor/partner by supporting promotions, facilitating negotiations with publishers and authors and providing an additional facility for readings. In addition, McNally Robinson Booksellers provided sponsorship for advertising, covered initial expenses and supplied meals for participating authors. Readings were held in our Black Box Theatre and at McNally Robinson Booksellers. The first festival received tremendous support from the community of Saskatoon and within the province of Saskatchewan. The majority of the readings had attendance that was at least at 80% capacity with some readings “sold out” prior to the festival starting. Teachers of elementary and high schools were encouraged to reserve space for readings and we had such tremendous response that many were turned away. All readings were free of charge to ensure access for all people regardless of their financial situation. Since 2004, the Ânskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival has promoted over 120 authors, hosted readings, workshops and seminars. In 2009, the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company could no longer support this event and it was cancelled. In the Fall of 2010, after a two year hiatus, a number of First